Fall Without a Fight
by bookberries
Summary: Hermione Granger is lost, broke, has no magic, no family, and no education. Draco is being hunted and forced into hiding. Both doing what they had once swore never to do; both doing the unthinkable. One night, in the midst of dancing bodies and half naked women, they cross paths. "What happened to you Granger..?" - Rated M for DARK THEMES . Angst/Tragedy/Romance/Hurt/Comfort
1. On the Run

**Author's Note:**

**Welcome Witches, Wizards, magical beasts, muggles, and squibs. We're bookberries!**

**We're Andii and Barbara!**

**This is our first ever Dramione fanfic inspired by the song A Team by Ed Sheeran. We are so excited for you to read it! But let us warn you, make sure towards the end, you bring tissues. YOU'LL NEED THEM BECAUSE WE DID. **

**Hermione will find herself in a delicate situation and she will have to make some decisions that most of you will probably find shocking. So yeah, we can say that she'll be a little out of character and we apologize for that.**

**Keep noted that Draco won't come in until perhaps the 3rd or 4th chapter, so be patient! Also, things that don't make sense in the first and second chapter will be explained in the third or fourth, so don't worry!**

**Also, thanks to our WONDERFUL beta Omaymah ( .com and iPaynesBabe on watppad) . Without her, THIS WOULDN'T EVEN MAKE SENSE. Seriously, my (Andii) spelling sucks. **

**Anyways, hope you enjoy it! **

**Disclaimer: We are in no way affiliated with JK Rowling or Warner Bro's. If we were, we would have put Draco and Hermione together AGES ago rather than relying on to get our dramione feels into the open world. Haha!**

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The sky was an inky black, spotted with a few ashen gray clouds hovering low in the sky. There wasn't a single living creature within miles, other than one young girl of about eighteen. Her hair, a tangled mess of chocolate brown locks, fell carelessly below her shoulders. Her lips, a pasty white, matched her pale, round and flaky face, made her look as if she had just came back from the dead.

This is what war does to people. It sucks out the happiness from inside them, like what a Dementor would do. It muddles up their brain leaving them unable to think straight. It keeps them awake and suffering during those long, restless nights. It changes them to the point that they can't recognize themselves when they look into a mirror.

That is what war did to Hermione Granger. The only thing that made her distinguishable from all the other pale, lifeless bodies, were her hazelnut eyes. The ones that burnt brightly like a flame; the ones that made her seem alive- alive, Vibrant, and Familiar.

She guided herself forward, for that was the only direction her boggled up mind could think of. As she clumsily dragged her bruised and aching body down the burn path, she let herself take in what had happened in the last couple of days.

During the battle at Hogwarts, after destroying the 6th horcrux Nagini, the Death Eaters had begun defecting from the Dark Side.

Harry Potter had his wand at Voldemort's throat. Voldemort must have known that this was his end. Whilst everyone held their breath, Harry began to whisper, "Avada Keda-" he couldn't finish his incantation. Harry had choked on the midnight blue smoke that engulfed him and Voldemort.

A couple of seconds later, the smoke had disappeared, leaving Harry, as well as everyone else, bewildered; Voldemort was nowhere in sight.

Hermione had seen something just then: a black cape whirling back into what was once the Hogwarts Entrance.

No one saw her run in that direction; they were still letting what had occurred sink into their system. She had followed the person in the black cloak, whom she assumed was Voldemort until they passed Hagrid's Hut and went into the Forbidden Forest. After a couple of confusing twists and turns, she lost him, and was all alone in the woods.

Throughout the next couple of days, she walked through the forest, with only the dim Lumos her wand provided, trying to decipher a way out. After hours of agonizing trudging, she could finally make out a faint ray of light in the distance.

She ran for it- and fell; but got up once more thanks to the adrenaline pumping through her heart and rushing to her body. She ran towards the light as if she hadn't seen it in forever.

Hermione now stood in the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest, confused, alone, and though she would never admit it, scared.

When night fell, she tried to transfigure a larde boulder into a living area that could provide her protection. She set up the three protection charms that she'd heard her former Professor Flitwick cast prior to the Battle at Hogwarts.

_Protego Maxima. Fianto Duri. Repello Inimicum. Protego Totalum._

Only then did she feel safe enough to let her body rest.

Sleep wouldn't grace her as quickly as she hoped; she let her mind wander a bit, allowing her to ponder at what tomorrow would bring. Hermione decided that she would go to the one place she knew best. The one place she could stumble upon even if she was blind. The place she had once called home. To muggle London.

The following morning Hermione woke up bright and early to a sight she didn't expect to see. Unlike yesterday, the sky was a sapphire blue with cotton white clouds hovering about. The sun, although not very bright, let out a vibrant pink and orange ray of light that smeared above the horizon.

She deactivated the protection charms she had set up the previous night and muttered a quite _incendio_ to burn anything that could hint that she had been here. She didn't want anyone to know her whereabouts.

Hermione left shortly after cleaning up and _scourgify_-ing herself, letting her thoughts wander once more.

She walked for what she could've sworn was an eternity, setting up camp every night. The protection charms and wards she set up became more of habit then need of protection. She did this for maybe 7-10 days, living off of the wild berries and drinking from the streams she passed by. Not exactly a healthy diet, but it was more than Hermione had expected to find. Hell, she had expected to die of dehydration by now.

On midday of what she assumed to be the 10th day, Hermione began to hear a distant sound of hustle and bustle. She was finally getting out of the Forest, she didn't exactly know if it was still the Forbidden Forest, but it didn't matter... The important thing was: she was going back home.

Leaving the trees behind, she closed her eyes to keep up her mind straight and finally apparate.

She smelled the Cherry Scented air. She was near her house; her family was the only one to have any Cherry Trees in their garden.

Hermione could feel her heart thumping against her ribs.

The anticipation of seeing her childhood home was slowly killing her. She was unsure of whether she should move forward or turn back. Too many memories would haunt her if she continued; and 'what if' questions would haunt her if she turned back. Even if she decided to turn back with no regrets, death was guaranteed to find her. She couldn't put this off any longer. She had to go see.

She decided to move on forward, letting her feet subconsciously take her to her old neighborhood. As she walked down the familiar streets, the hot, bitter tears she'd been trying to hold in, streamed down her face.

She stood at the foot of her driveway.

Whoever was inside her house right now, were not her parents. She had _obliviated _them and sent them to Austrailia before the war had begun. She had wanted to protect them.

Hermione sat on the rough sidewalk and let herself cry. She let herself sob all her burdens into the ratty old clothes she had on.

She knew she needed a place to stay for the night, but she had no money. She tried to _transfigure_ a couple of stones and newspapers into money, but failed the first time. She tried again, only to fail. '_Third times a charm' _she thought to herself. Her concentration was thin, making the transfiguration a lot more difficult than it already was. She failed once again.

After an hour of failed attempts and dirty looks from the pedestrians walking around, she barely managed to _transfigure_ 200 pounds.

She left her neighborhood abruptly, regretting coming back, and wishing just to get away from it. She caught a cab to the nearest, cheapest hostel she could remember, Hostel 639.

Hermione paid the cab driver and hurried out of his car. It reeked of sex and cigarettes, and the stench repulsed her. She stumbled into the rather damp hostel and paid for her two night stay.

"Do you accept cash?" she asked sheepishly hiding her embarrassed gaze from the woman of a higher caliber than her who sat at the reception desk. The woman nodded and Hermione handed her the 40 pounds she had asked for.

Hermione was led to her room: room 36, third floor. She took in her surroundings, inspecting her living space. It was dull, and damp, and smelled like sweat. The room had a TV set, one Queen sized bed, a bathroom, and the light was a dim yellow that gave the room an eerie glow.

Hermione went directly to the bathroom, she needed a wash as soon as possible. She let herself soak under the hot shower head and she brushed out her tangled mess of hair. That hair of hers really annoyed her. It was as if someone built a nest in her hair and refused to tend to it. Repulsive.

After washing her clothes and drying them off using magic, she went to bed. She slept through the night, the next day, and the following's early morning. She was exhausted and it felt wonderful being able to rest her limbs.

She went down to the lobby and was relieved to find breakfast free. She stuffed herself with eggs, bacon, and burnt toast until she was reassured she'd put back on all the weight she had lost.

After breakfast, she went back up to her room to change. She transfigured the towels provided by the Hostel into some modern muggle clothing. She transfigured her tattered gray clothes into something a little nicer: a green mickey mouse t-shirt, dark blue jeans, a black leather jacket, and black shoes.

She'd decided to walk around London for a while so she could clear her head and maybe, if she was lucky, bump into a family friend of some sort.

Hermione stepped out into the open world: it was a lot more colorful in comparison to the Hostel.

The sun was high in the sky, giving off hot gleams of light that stretched for as far as the eye could see.

The scenery was a good distraction, it made her momentarily forget that war was going on, and people were probably out to murder her. Hermione forgot the Wizarding World as a whole. She let herself take in the natural beauty around her.

Whilst walking down what she remembered to be referred to as the most popular street in London, Oxford, she could feel the forgotten memories hit her like a tidal wave crashing against the peaceful shore.

It was 10 am, the shops and cafés were gradually filling up. Hermione went into Starbucks and got herself a Double-Chocolate Cappuccino. The Wizarding World may have had its own specialties when it came to drinks, but none of them were as good as Starbuck's Cappuccino. She sat down at the table outside and let herself float away on the sea of forgotten memories.

Right across the street was Clair's, a young girl's accessory shop. When she was younger, her mother used to take her to buy jewelry and handbags from there. Despite the fact that she never was a girly girl, she had enjoyed shopping there.

Hermione finished the last of her Cappuccino and fiddled with the straw.

"Excuse me. Are you by any chance, Hermione Granger?" a tall dark haired girl asked breaking Hermione out of her trance.

The girl had short, dark colored hair, a pale face, and blue green eyes that had familiarity swimming in them..

"Uhm.. yes. Yes, I am. " she answered exasperatedly. "Do I know you? You seem familiar.."

The girl smiled, "Yes, as a matter of fact, you do. I'm Evelyn Chermette, we went to primary school together."

Hermione's eyed widened ad realization dawned in on her. This young woman standing before her was her childhood bestfriend.

"Evy? Is that really you?!" she exclaimed getting up and hugging her.

She hadn't seen her friend in a decade! When she got her Hogwarts Acceptance letter, she had told her that she was being sent to a private boarding school for the Gifted and Academically Talented. It had been hard to say goodbye to her.

"What are you doing here in London? Schools doesn't finish for another two weeks!" she asked sitting down across from Hermione.

"They let us out early for health reasons." Hermione explained. She couldn't tell her the truth, and even if she did, it hardly seemed legitimate that a nose-less mad man was at war with an 18 year old boy.

"Right now, I'm looking for a place to stay for a while." She continued. Evy's smile grew. "You could always stay with me." She suggested. "Oh no!" Hermione declined. "I don't want to intrude or anything." She lowered her head trying to hide the warmth flowing into her cheeks.

"I live alone, not far from here, so you wouldn't be intruding." Evelyn insisted. "Please? Just for a couple of days. It'll be fun!"Hermione inwardly fought with herself before surrendering. "Fine… But only for a couple of days." She smiled.

Evelyn stood up first, pulling Hermione by the arm. "Should we get your things?" she asked excitedly. Hermione gave her a sheepish smile and mumbled, "They got lost on the flight back. So all my money and clothes are gone." She shrugged.

"Oh it's fine, you can borrow my clothes." Evy offered.

Hermione was eager to get to her friend's house and use her internet. She needed to search up some living arrangements and jobs. Living with a friend she hasn't spoken to in years was stinging her pride.

" So what kind of car do you have?" Hermione asked Evy trying to make small talk as they walked to the parking lot.

The girl grinned at her cheekily, "Believe it or not, I got the new Malfoi (prounounced mal-fwa ) Road Runner." Evelyn pushed a button on her keys and Hermione snapped her head around to the direction of the 'click'.

To their right, was a bright green convertible with a streamlined nose and silver markings on the door handles, side view mirror, and trunk.

A bell rang in Hermione's head. This was all too familiar. Green. Silver. Malfoi. This couldn't be mere coincidence. How many Malfoi's does Hermione Granger know?

Well, none really, but she does know a Malfoy, and she wasn't quite fond of him. But he wouldn't be working in Muggle London. That'd be like assuming us humans can breathe under water. Impossible.

"This must have cost you a FORTUNE!" Hermione exclaimed after re-organizing her thoughts.

Evelyn scoffed, "A fortune doesn't even come close to what it cost!" She laughed. The two young women hopped into the car and began driving. They listened to music, talked, and caught up.

"So what happened to your parents?" Evy asked curiously. Hermione didn't know how to answer that. She stuttered a bit before clearing her throat and mumbling a barely audible, "I don't know.." Evy scoffed, "How do you not know where they are? That's preposterous. "

Hermione shrugged,"When I came back, no one seemed to know where they went. "

Evy looked a bit worried, "Well, have you filed a missing person's report?" she asked curiously.

Hermione felt really guilty for hiding things from her friend, but she had to. "Yeah.." she lied. "Last summer when I came to visit, but they haven't heard from anything. The people who've moved in only did after the ministry claimed it and sold it." Hermione backed up her lie quite easily. It seemed believable.

"Oh.." her friend breathed out. "I'm sorry.." She truly was. She knew what it was like to lose a parent, after all, her mother died when she was fifteen. She couldn't even _imagine _what Hermione must be going through.

They pulled over at the parking area at the entrance of a neighborhood that seemed to be made for royalty. Evelyn was doing really well for a 18 year old who had dropped out of high school. Hermione didn't exactly approve of Evy's decision, but she had to admit, she did well for herself afterwards. She'd landed a job working for some new and expensive Car Company, The Malfoi Merchandise; TMM for short.

The whole Malfoi thing was really annoying her, she found it rather coincidental. It's not like Lucius, Malfoy, or Narcissa would've even CONSIDERED coming anywhere near muggles, let alone working alongside them.

Hermione scurried out of the automobile, hurrying after her friend. They walked past some rather expensive looking Villas and Mansions only to stop at the most beautiful one on that street. It was rather big, with dragon markings engraved on the two pillars holding the enormous building up. The tall oak door creaked as Evelyn pushed it open.

To say the house was beautiful would be an understatement. The house was truly beautiful. Even the floor they walked on was beautiful. The shiny, white, marble that seemed to glisten was polished to the extent that you could see your own reflection if you wanted to. The ceiling was high and a breath taking crystal chandelier loomed over them making the house seem a lot more elegant than Evelyn intended.

The house may have been big on the outside, but was actually rather small on the inside, despite its tall ceiling. The villa only had 2 master bedrooms, one guest bedroom, a large dining area, a large kitchen, a ballroom, and Hermione's favorite, a library.

Hermione had to admit, it was quite big, but then again, not as big as most mansions. The typical ones are large enough for you to get lost in!

Evelyn dropped her bags on the floor of the dining room. "Let me show you to your room." She smiled at her.

She led the astonished girl to the fairly large guest room. It was big enough and nice enough to Hermione's liking, but she knew not to get to comfortable. She couldn't stay here long after all.

"I really owe you big time, Evy. I still can't manage to find out how you afforded to pay for this!" She exclaimed exasperatedly. The dark haired girl snorted in a rather un-lady like fashion.

"I didn't! My boss just likes to spoil his employees. Personally, I think it's because he like us; but he's trying to convince everyone that he's doing this to save his bum from shame. Apparently, he refuses to have one of his employee's live in a 'filthy excuse for an apartment' as he so kindly put it."

Hermione chuckled at her friend's obviously terrible impression of her boss. "Well, I some work to do in my room, so make yourself at home!" Evy seemed pretty happy for Hermione to be here. One could only imagine how boring it must be to live in such a big house all by herself.

After Evy left to do her business, Hermione made a beeline to the library. She hadn't read a good book in what seems like ages. She grabbed the first one she could get her hands on, Winter of the World by Ken Follett, lit the fire, and snuggled on the couch beside it.

By the time Evy finished her work and came looking for Hermione, she'd been curled up on the couch, her hair flying everywhere, her cheeks tainted with a light pink, and a book resting on her chest. She'd falling sound asleep.

Evy covered her friend and let her sleep. She could only imagine the stress she's been having after the peculiar loss of her parents. She smiled sadly at girl. Poor thing. If only she could help some more.

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**Thanks again to our readers, beta, and JK Rowling herself. We love you! Please rate and review. It'll help us keep going! And trust me, THE FIC WILL GET BETTER. IT DOES I SWEAR. We already typed up the first 2 chapters, almost done with the third. But we'll only post once a week I think.**

**Anyways,**

**Have a magical day!**

**xoxo**

**A & B**


	2. The Last Resort

**Welcome back ****peasants**** valued readers. :D Welcome to Chapter Two of FWAF!**

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**We hope this chapter will answer to all of your questions; some people were a little bit confused about why Hermione wouldn't go back to Harry and Ron. Hopefully this chapter will justify it. This chapter as well as the third, will be just filler chapters.**

**Yes, we'll be posting about Draco really soon. He won't be meeting Hermione just yet for there are still some things we must explain before that!**

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**If you're bored with the story and don't want to read anymore, well, I have a solution to that. *IMPERIO***

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Hermione woke up the following morning with a painful cramp sprouting in her lower back and her hair tangled up a lot more than usual. That was her punishment for staying up late reading and not retiring to her room like she should have. She untangled the covers from her legs, folded them, and made her way to the kitchen ignoring the frizzy furball she called hair.

She decided to make Evy breakfast, somewhat as a thank you gift, but her old friend woke up before she could actually do anything.

"You can go take a shower if you want." Evy said with a smile "While I prepare the breakfast for us."

"Ok, can you just tell me where the bathroom is? I still haven't discovered most of the house…" she asked standing up from the high wooden chair.

"I know! When I first got here I was kind of lost. Just go straight forward through that hallway and enter the last door of all." Evy nodded with a bright smile on her face.

Hermione nodded back curtly and left the kitchen.

The long corridor's walls were white and empty which denounced the fact that it was definitely a single person's house; there were no pictures on the walls, nor cluttered things around the house, like a family home would have.

When she was just about to prepare to open the door Evy had indicated for her to go through, an odd tapping sound alarmed her, making her jump and look around.

Her eyes widened as she noticed a small, black owl staring at the inside of the house through the window. The owl was unfamiliar to Hermione, but still, she felt her heart start to beat frantically. There could still be hope. It could be from Harry or Ron's.

Hermione tried to open the window quietly and let the owl step inside a little so it could hand her the letter. Hermione lifted her hand and grasped the letter from the owl's mouth.

The envelope said "_Hermione Granger_" so it was indeed addressed to her. She looked down the owl but it had already taken off, so she closed the window once more…

She looked at the letter again and closed her eyes, praying it would be from her best friends. She felt that receiving a letter from them would hopefully ease the agony she was feeling.

_Dear Hermione, _

_This will probably reach to you later than we wished but we don't know where your current location is. We're all so worried about you! _

_As you probably know, Voldemort disappeared and as expected he's trying to find a way to destroy me and win the war. We're trying as hard as we can to defeat him and avoid any more deaths. Muggleborns and Muggles are still disappearing. We must ask you this and please do it for your own safety: Don't. Come. Back. One of the Ministry Officials informed us that you're one of the top five on Voldemort's 'kill list'. We believe that he wants to find you to somehow reach me. Just don't come back home. Stay we're you are, stay safe. _

_Just know that we love you. _

_Sincerely, H & R_

Hermione didn't know how to react, she couldn't breathe, she couldn't see.

The letter was exactly as she had predicted to be: She couldn't come back, even if she wanted to. They'd take her as hostage. They'd force Harry into choosing between what's right for her, and what's right for the rest of the world. They'd torture her, they'd kill her.

She wasn't prepared.

The young witch folded the letter, put it on her jeans pocket and opened the bathroom door.

Water usually helped her in stressful moments like this.

After showering, she went back to the kitchen; Evy had already set out the breakfast. Plates were piled high with various toasts, pancakes, fruits, and pastries. They each had a glass of orange juice.

They spent the rest of the morning, chatting about the old times; their childhood memories, secrets, the fact that Hermione's hair was still bushy as ever. It could have distracted her from her situation but it didn't.

Evelyn had brought up what they did after changing schools a couple of times, but Hermione, of course, tried to avoid the topic as much as she could. She didn't have a clue as to what she should tell her.

The day passed slowly, and Hermione had come to the decision that she would have to exactly what Harry had told her. She would ask Evy to stay with her for a little longer, until she would find a job.

On the next day, the two young ladies were sat down on the red velvet sofa. Hermione was talking to Evy about finding a job.

"So, you're looking for a job?" Evy asked casually as she leaned back on the couch.

Hermione nodded and sighed "I barely have enough to live off on for a week. So yes, I guess I have to find a job as soon as possible." She gave her friend a weak smile before continuing. "The problem is I basically have no work experience…" Hermione shrugged and looked down her clasped hands.

"Hmm… I see." Evy murmured looking outside the window, but her blank gaze gave off the expression that her mind had gone into a trance of deep thought.

Hermione reluctantly pulled herself off of the couch and dragged herself to the kitchen, trying her best to avoid the uncomfortable silence that had settled in. She opened the kitchen blinds, letting the golden rays of sunlight into the rather cold home and stared out the window, admiring the beautiful nature, and pondering of what may come.

Hermione hoped Evy wouldn't ask her anymore questions about Hermione's past. The chance of her not bringing it up was slim; Evelyn was a determinate and somewhat stubborn girl. It would only take a few hours for her to start pestering Hermione with questions.

She let herself get lost I her thoughts.

"I think I know someone who can hire you!" Her thoughts were suddenly disrupted by a grinning Evy who exclaimed excitedly. "I have a friend who owns a daycare center, and she needs someone to take over since she'll be retiring soon!"

Evy beamed at her friend. "So all we need to do is get your A- Levels and GCSE papers and you get the job!"

Hermione frowned. She didn't have one of those, and it was highly unlikely that her O's on her O.W.L's and N.E.W.T's would do her any good. She didn't want to disappoint her friend, so she agreed to it nonetheless.

"I guess I'll check it out…Would it be okay if I…uhm…went alone. It's nothing personal; I want to be considered because they think I'd be good, not because you're pulling the strings…" Hermione insisted. She tried to avoid Evy's piercing gaze, but found herself staring back at her anyways.

"Yeah... It's fine I guess…" Evy eyed her suspiciously. "They're open now; you might as well get it over with." She motioned for Hermione to follow her up to her room.

Evelyn looked through her closet, tossing a variety of outfits towards her "I have way too many clothes that I need to get rid of; you can take them if you want."

Hermione picked up the first thing she laid eyes on, a green shirt, grey trousers, and sandals; nothing fancy. "The Daycare centre is right across the street from the local Tesco's. Ask for Mrs. Atkinson, she's the lady in charge. Good luck!"

Hermione bid her friend a quick thank you and rushed off. She wasn't planning on going to see Mrs. Atkinson; she just wanted to get out of the house. She may have only been here for a mere one day, but the eeriness of the large mansion was annoying her.

The sky was tinted with golden rays dancing against the clear and cloudless blue sky. Hermione stood at the foot of the stairway leading from the villa to the rest of the neighborhood, admiring the breathtaking scenery around her. The soft and gentle breezed caressed her cheek causing a chill to run up her spine. As she strolled along the grass that was filled with dew from the night before, she pondered of what she could do to pass the time.

She could see a movie, or go to the park, but it would only deem appropriate if she visited the library. She is Hermione Granger after all!

Hermione started walking towards the library she always used to go to when she was younger. She remembered the times she used to come back from Hogwarts and engross herself in shelves full of stories. Of course they were nothing like the ones from the library at Hogwarts; books that let her imagination run free. The librarians were also kind old ladies, nothing like Madam Irma Pince, the strict and unpleasant librarian from Hogwarts that looked oddly like an underfed vulture. Hermione snapped out of her reveries and stopped to a halt. She had arrived. She stepped on the stone stairs and made her way up and walked through the grand doors. Hermione was amazed to see how little it had changed from when she used to come. The wizard war seemed to have left the muggle world alone for the time being. She made her way to the reception desk to find a little old lady sitting with her glasses on and a sheaf of papers in her hand. Hermione coughed. "Excuse me."

The old woman looked up. "Yes dear?"

"Could you please tell me where the classics section is please?"

The old lady sat up and answered "of course, just go ahead and turn at the first right." She indicated with her free hand.

"Thank you." Hermione replied. The woman gave a curt nod and returned to her work. Hermione went past the selves and ran her fingers along the spines of the books. Oh how she loved books, they had always been her escape. She found the classic section and pulled out a few. Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Little Women and her favourite: Pride and Prejudice. She carefully placed the books to one side and picked up her cherished choice. Hermione flipped the book open and started to read, getting lost in her fantasy world.

Hermione looked up from the book she was reading and brushed the hair out of her eyes. In the corner of the room, she saw an unmistakable head of red hair.

Ron? She thought. It couldn't be though. Ron was fighting in the war. Ron wasn't here. For all she knew, Ron was in danger.

The hot bitter tears she began to shed dripped onto the open pages of her books. She really did miss them. She closed the book, returned it to its place, and rushed out. She couldn't stand being there. She detested the memories. She already had to suffer through them haunting her at night, why should she have to bother with them during the day?

She sprinted to the nearest alleyway and looked around to make sure no one saw her.

She apparated to the local McDonald's and ordered. It wasn't exactly one of her favorite foods but it was the first place she had in mind. At least food would help her keep her mind off of things, "I'll have a cheeseburger and some chips please." She put her lunch in her rather large purse and wandered off the too crowded place.

She let herself to once again, get lost in her thoughts and admiration of the peacefulness when all of a sudden, a dark masked figure bumped into her. He was surprisingly big, much like Hagrid.

She was about to turn around and yell at him when she realized, he had a gun. No one was around at this time of day. Everyone was at work, or school. How unlucky was she?!

"Pass the handbag over lady!" he whispered harshly pushing the gun into her ribs. Hermione gulped and bit her lip gripping her bag as tightly as possible.

"No!" she said calmly trying to mask her fear with stubbornness.

"Do you want to do this the easy way, or the hard way?!" he growled menacingly.

She refused to show any sign of fear. The man squeezed her arm tighter making her lose her grip of the bag. He pulled it out of her reach quickly, pushed her to the ground, and ran off.

Hermione pulled herself to a sitting position, trying to comprehend what had just happened. She made sure she was all in one piece when she realized, he had taken her bag.

More importantly, he had taken her wand.

She tried to clear her mind and gather her senses before apparating back to Evy's; she didn't want to be splinched.

When she arrived in front of Evy's house, she didn't leave the place where she had apparated, still in shock and disbelief. The man had taken her wand and there was no way she could get a new one, she had promised herself that she wouldn't go back to the Wizarding word before, but now, she couldn't even if she wanted. Harry and Ron had asked her not to.

Unlike all the previous situations she had been, in this one she had no idea of what the solution was.

* * *

Two months passed and Hermione was still living at Evy's house. After a few days working only for experience, she had managed to convince Mrs. Atkinson that she had enough qualifications for the job, now she could help Evy pay the bills.

Hermione and Evy had gotten closer, they were like best friends. They would share the only room in the house and stay up late every night, chatting about their days at work. Evy's new chef was one of the popular topics, according to her he had recently started running the company which had previously been in one of his family member's hands.

"You should see him, Hermione. He's handsome, the gentleman type, sometimes rough but who wouldn't like to have a little bit of that in a relationship? He's surely in is twenties and I believe his favorite color is gray, he wears gray very often." they laughed together and stayed up really late until Hermione became tired and her body begged her for sleep.

She still felt down and sometimes her fear and sadness would lead her to cry for hours. But living with Evy and working every day were the perfect distractions to keep her from those depressive moments she was drowning in for weeks.

* * *

On her way home from work one Sunday evening, the sound of a piercing siren hit Hermione's ears immediately. The once silent and peaceful neighborhood was now densely crowded with people, reporters, and neighbors.

Hermione squeezed herself through the crowd standing on Evy's front yard. At the foot of the door, was a fair young lady with golden locks falling swiftly down her shoulders. She was the recent news reporter from the BBC.

"Just this past hour, the young Evelyn Chermette, manager of TMM, The Malfoi Merchandise, was found dead by a fellow neighbour, Paula Struder. Paula, what brought you to the alert of Ms Evelyn?" The young reporter asked in the mono-tone voice that reminded Hermione a lot of her former Potions Professor, Snape.

"Well," the 30 year old woman began, "I was getting the mail, like I do every day, when I heard a piercing scream coming from her house. I went to check it out of course, and I found the door wide open. She was sprawled out on the floor. I checked her pulse and it had stopped. I called the police, and here they are. The weirdest part was the damage the killer caused." Paula gulped. "They had burnt everything in the room, and the smoke somehow looked like a snake of some sort. I may have been just imagining it, but I don't know…" she trailed off.

Hermione tuned out of everything after that. Death eaters, they knew she was here. They had murdered Evy. They had stripped Hermione of a friend once more. Evy had died because of her…Hermione had never felt more alone.

Hermione felt a gentle tap on her shoulder. She turned around to find a short, dark haired man in a professional looking suit. "You don't happen to live with Miss Chermette?" asked the man timidly.

Hermione stuttered due to the aftershock and the small bit of denial in the back of her head, "Y-yes. S-sort of." She replied uneasily.

"I'm a finance worker from TMM, and I was ordered to tell you to collect your things and leave the estate as soon as possible. Since Miss Chermette has passed, she no longer is permitted to keep her job, and her home. I apologize for your loss. You have one week." The man abruptly left leaving Hermione feeling angrier and more depressed than ever.

She pushed her way inside, ignoring the shouts of protest coming from the police officers, and locked herself in Evy's room.

Hermione knew that the only option she had was to go away and quit the job that she had found. She would have to go or the deatheaters would most likely kill everyone in town until they'd find her.

The _déjà vu_ feeling of being all alone settled in again. Lost, as lost as she had been in the Forbidden Forest, or when she had first come to Evy's house. The place where she had stayed for two months; she was leaving it now.

She decided that it was time to pack up things and start looking for a place to stay. She went into Evy's room, barely holding back tears, and rummaged through her things. She packed some of her clothes, some of her money, and any snacks she could into an old gym bag.

She let her tears fall freely now. She honestly didn't care anymore, it's not like anyone who knew her would see.

The witch returned to the living room and sat on the sofa, placing the rather heavy bag beside her.

Hermione had lost everything she had. She was now, lost, hopeless and afraid. Afraid because the life she had meticulously planned was falling apart. The past couple of weeks had been tough. She was apart from her friends, her parents who were somewhere in Australia didn't know she existed even her wand was taken from her. She let out a cold and harsh chuckle. Being a witch isn't so useful after all.

And Evy… _Evy died because of me and my inconsequent stupid brain._

Hermione wasn't sure of how long she stayed there staring the wall in front of her. She knew she didn't have much time left until the death eaters would come back to find her. It was time to leave the city; never go back again.

So she got up, chucked the bag over her shoulder and left without looking back.

Outside, the wind was now getting colder; the sun was about to set and the road was oddly empty. She knew that most of Evy's neighbors were watching her and her depressing departure. What a sad end for a young woman wasn't it?

She needed to ignore them, clear her mind and go somewhere else. It didn't matter where-anywhere else.

So she walked, and walked until her toes started to hurt. The emotional pain she felt inside was much worse than that. She wanted to dissipate it away, she just wasn't sure how.

The sun was now definitely gone now, and Hermione had no idea of where she was. Looking around, she saw she was in a deserted, pigeon-holed street with vacant and neglected warehouses. Now she was really lost.

Hermione kept looking for any sight of life around, her mind started to wander as she tried to find a way to get out of that scary place. She could apparate of course. She almost did; but she noticed a spotlight deeper in the outcasted alleyway, just a few metres away from her. She walked desperately towards it.

As she got closer, loud music started to fill her head. Narrowing her eyes to avoid the light, she looked up the building and read:

"Demon's Dungeon: the sexiest club in town. STILL HIRING.".

It wasn't the fact that this was the only building in the whole street being used that shocked Hermione.

It wasn't the fact that not a single car was parked that shocked her.

It wasn't the fact that it was more crowded than the stadium at the Quidditch World Cup that shocked her.

What shocked Hermione Granger the most was that she actually went in.

* * *

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	3. Reliving Memories

**Welcome back babling, bumbling, band of baboons! This is the third chapter of FWAF! WOOOHOO**

** Okay, so this chapter as we mentioned in the previous one will be a filler chapter, we included some Draco's flashbacks so you understand the whole story better J**

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* * *

** July 1998 – Present Day**

Draco Malfoy's day had gone quite well, which was a totally surprise giving to the fact that he was, to everyone's acknowledge, a not very good-tempered person. The agreements with the American companies were sealed; the shares were growing insanely and as well as the profits. He had indeed, all the reasons to be happy.

Apparently nothing could destroy his day, not even his new too-clumsy intern who didn't even know how to work with a printer. Even him, who was a pureblood wizard and more than reluctant about the muggle world, knew how to work with that weird machine.

He sighed and gave a half-smirk while he turned around on his wheelchair. Behind his desk was a window which occupied most part of the around eight meters wall.

The company was located precisely in the centre of the city of London. The buildings were mainly constructed in the beginnings of the 20th century but some of them were remodeled and modernized, which was the case of his Company.

The sunny sky was slowly getting darker and darker, the narrowed streets' lights about to turn on. He liked to stay there, at his office, until the twilight appeared in the sky. Somehow it gave him the peace he needed after the long days at work.

What else would he do, anyway? He had no family to go back after work. No friends. There was always the chance to go to a bar for a few drinks with Blaise Zabini, but going back to his apartment seemed like a much better idea.

He avoided thinking about it but as most part of the times: the truth was hard to avoid, and the truth was that he, Draco Malfoy, missed his family. Despite not being happy while he was at the Malfoy Manor, he still felt that somehow, it was his home.

But he had run away for good, with Voldemort's sudden disappearance during the Hogwarts Battle everything pointed to the fact that it was time to leave and never go back.

He looked at the clock on the wall behind him, right above the office's doors. It was now precisely 7 pm.

The phone rang and Draco turned away, again, to his desk and answered.

" Mr. Malfoy , you have someone from the human resources here. He wants to speak with you." His new intern's voice informed him in a nervous tone.

Draco narrowed his eyes in irritation and sighed.

"What the hell does he want at this time of the evening?" but the boy didn't answer "In case you haven't noticed I'm talking to you." he muttered.

"I-I'm asking him right now, Sir."

"So…?"

"Mr. Williamson said that you might want to speak with him in person, it's important, sir." He heard Lewis whisper before giving a loud gulp. Draco waited a few seconds to just make Lewis even more nervous, it had recently become his entertainment when he had some free time at work.

"Ok, he may come in. Ah and Lewis…"

"Y-yes Sir?"

"Go home; your work here is done." Draco stated with no spring of emotion in his voice although, inside he was trying hard no to laugh.

"What, Sir? Y-you're not-t telling me I'm…"

"NO LEWIS, I'm telling you your work is done for today, you dumb idiot." Draco spat again and hanged the phone.

Draco got up from the chair and adjusted his Italian grey suit so he would look at least presentable. A few seconds after, he heard the knock on the door.

"Come in." the door opened and a short man with light brown hair walked into the room, in his hands was a blue folder.

Draco frowned when he recognized him, although he didn't know the man's name.

"Good evening, Sir." Draco nodded in response, sat down and made a motion for the man to sit down too.

"So, what brings you here Mr. …"

"Williamson, Mr. Malfoy. I'm from the human resources and I'm here to inform of the death of one of the employees." The man adjusted his glasses as he seemed to re-read the document in his hands.

"Hm… Let me guess, the old Margaret finally decided to die for good." Draco rolled his eyes and accepted the documents in the folder Mr. Williamson had just handed him.

"It was Evelyn, Sir." The man murmured and looked down, slightly uncomfortable with the last events. It seemed like the man was expecting Draco to react badly or show some kind of compassion or sadness, but he didn't. Draco didn't know who Evelyn was.

"I don't remember having someone called Evelyn here on my…" he paused while reading the document, his eyes widened in shock "Wait...Evelyn Chermette, my secretary?"

"I'm afraid so, Mr. Malfoy. Miss Chermette was killed this evening at the house owned by the Malfoi Company. There was no sign of destruction or steal, Sir. " Williamson answered.

"But how? The house is probably one of the safest in the city… And what kind of murders would kill a nineteen year old girl without having second intentions? Did they leave any letter?"

"No although the police got a testimonial of a neighbor who apparently described a very odd scene."

"What do you mean?"

"According to the lady, just a few seconds before the police and ambulance came, was, just above the house a "dark smoke" possibly a cloud, a snake to be precise. Of course it hasn't been confirmed…"

"Wait, a snake?" Draco rose of his chair, the shock transpiring from his nervous tone "What else did the lady say?"

"She told the police that minutes before the occurred, she had been gardening in her backyard and had heard some voices coming from Mrs. Chermette's house, although she had not hear a car parking in front of the house, nor a knock on the door… nothing. The lady had only noticed something had happened when she heard a scream, a scream of someone who seemed to be somehow tortured or in terrible agony."

The smoky snake, the silence and then the screams of torture… It seemed exactly how death eaters would act. Draco knew it couldn't be a coincidence that death eaters had found a house in the middle of that family neighborhood and simply killed, by coincidence, his secretary.

They had probably been searching for information, hence the screams.

"Ok Williamson, you can go now." Malfoy stated, turning his eyes towards the door.

The old man nodded tiredly and got up from the chair before leaving the room.

As the door closed, Draco feel instantly on his chair, taking off his tie.

He needed to calm down himself; he needed to get a plan to distract the death eaters, even if he had to kill them. He would.

Draco Malfoy was not a person of giving up at the first complication, he had gotten used to that life he had then, and most important: he had gained everyone's trust. He was free, and there was no way he would give it away again.

He raised his hand to his closed eyes. He couldn't go back to his old life, he couldn't.

* * *

**_Flashback – May 1998_**

_After the disappearance of the Dark Lord, the Ministry struggled to piece together any evidence they can to see who would be sent to Azkaban, and who would be freed._

_The Department of Magical Law Enforcement held various trials against suspected death eaters._

_Dolohov was found guilty and sentenced to death by Dementor's Kiss. Tera Zabini was let off the hook with a Supervised Probation. Some say it was because she's a woman who didn't participate much in the war; others say it was because she' slept with half the Department's Board. ((insert different death eater cases here)) The Malfoy's trial had to be one of the most absurd. Lucius Malfoy was sentenced to twenty years in Azkaban, but his wife and son were let off the hook without a thought._

_During the war, when everyone presumed Harry was dead, mere minutes before Voldemort disappeared, Narcissa Malfoy was sent to ensure that Harry Potter had indeed died. Despite the fact that he was alive, she lied to the Dark Lord and said he was dead, in exchange for information of course; whether her son was alive or not. This was evidence enough that she had defected. _

_Draco was let off for another reason maximized on a totally different scale. During the youngest Malfoy's 6th year, after receiving the task of killing Dumbledore, he went to the Order for help. Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix were happy to help him._

_Theodore Nott was sadly captured by a mob of snatchers, led by none other than Fenrir Greyback. He bit him deep in the neck after Theo attempted to use the killing curse on him. Theo was left there to die and found in the rotting stage of death by a couple of Ministry Officials._

_Although Draco and Blaise were freed, they weren't allowed to roam around the Wizarding World._

_"But I don't understand, sir. We did the trial, and we're innocent." Draco argued impatiently ruffling through his silky, white-blonde hair._

_"Mr. Malfoy, I see where you are coming from, but you must understand, you, Mr. Zabini and your mother , are all in grave danger." Shacklebolt explained exasperatedly. "One of our undercover double agents informed us that the deatheaters are enraged that you disrupted their plans and fed the order their top secret information. You and are both wanted dead, you for informing and for aiding. The good news are that the Ministry and I have found you a solution." The dark skinned wizard smiled warmly at the two young men in front of him. You have been recommend to enter the W.P.P: the Wizard Protection Program. , I'm sure you know, you're aunt Andromeda Tonks nee Black, who lives in Muggle London."_

_Draco nodded uneasily._

_"Well, after hearing from her husband Ted Tonks, who's in league with the WPP, she agreed to help you young lads. You may or may be aware, but owns the BMI which is a new car manufacturing company in the UK. had been planning on retiring and after a few reunions with your uncle and aunt; they said they'd be happy to pass it on to you. In a nutshell, you Derek Malfoi, your mother Alexandra Malfoi, and you Blaine Anderson, are now in, officially, citizens of London. Derek, you are now owner of BMI, which will now be known as MMI; Malfoi Manufacturing Inc. Blaine will be head of the company. will stay at home. More information will be passed on to you as soon as it can." Shacklebolt rubbed his bald scalp, smoothening out the imaginary hairs on his head._

_The two boys gaped in bewilderment and confusion._

_"I can't live amongst muggles!" Draco screeched scrambling to get out of his seat._

_"And why not Mr. Malfoy?!" Shacklebolt roared back with equal aggressiveness. _

_Shacklebolt let out a long shaky breath. " , you must understand, some of the Wizard and Witches aren't exactly keen on letting you go just yet. They will do anything to find just a speck of dirt on you. At this rate, just the fact that you've breathed the same air as Voldemort, is enough to get you locked up in Azkaban."_

* * *

Draco rubbed his temples in circular motions, trying to ease away the throbbing that came with reliving his memories.

* * *

**_Flashback – June 1998_**

_Saying Draco Malfoy was nervous would be an understatement. He was a wreck!_

_Draco walked in through the tall automatic glass doors of the building. Once walking in, Draco was honestly surprised at how elegant and poise everyone working there was. _

_They weren't much different, muggle and wizards. Both females of both populations both dressed in such a manner to attract a couple of eyes. And the men were most definitely oggling the women in an unprofessional way. _

_They weren't much different at all. Maybe this wouldn't be as hard as he expected. Draco continued walking towards a small compartment on the far end of the lobby. _

_The illifayter or something._

_He went in and pushed the button with the highest number, 30. Considering the fact that he was the new owner, he must be of importance, and therefore would be in the highest floor. _

_After stepping out of the illifayter, his eyes fell upon a dark skinned man in a green and silver suit. _

_"Zabi- Anderson. What do you think you're doing?"_

_Blaise Zabini turned away from the pretty blonde that he was obviously flirting with._

_"Oh nothing, _boss._ Just getting to know my fellow coworkers." The flirtatious Italian turned to towards the blond woman and introduced her to Draco._

_"Lexi Talbert, this is Dra- this is Derek.. Derek Malfoi. Derek, this is Lexi. "_

_Lexi's eyes widened in shock. She had the decency to blush and look down. Lexi stuck out her hand,_

_"Mr. Malfoi, pleasure to meet you, boss. " _

_Draco reluctantly took her hand and shook it. "Likewise.." _

_Lexi looked up gathering her self-confidence and flashed Draco a forced smile that bore all of her pearly white teeth. _

_"I'm Alexandra Talbert, Supervisor of International Clients' Affiliations; let me show you to your office." The young woman flipped her golden brown hair over her shoulder and strolled over in the opposite direction. _

_Draco and Blaise followed shorty behind. "Mr. Malfoi, you and Mr. Anderson will be sharing an office." She opened the door to reveal a large room lined with silver, black, and green. There were two large mahogany desks in the middle with various plush couches and chairs surrounding them. _

_In the far right hand corner, was an array of shelves filled with books and a set of three comfortable seats. In one seat, was none other than Draco Malfoy's aunt, Andromeda Tonks. _

_Andromeda thanked the girl who let them in and shooed her out. _

_"Draco Dear! You've grown into quite a handsome lad! Haven't seen you since you were a weeee baby. " She pulled Draco into a bone crushing hug. _

_"Aunt Andromeda.. "He whined pushing her away. _

_"Oh please, call me Andii!" She turned towards Blaise. _

_ "They were right. The Zabini good looks do run in the family. " _

_Blaise smirked, "Nice to meet you, Andii," He kissed the back of her hand. _

_"Oh the pleasure is all mine, kind sir!" She laughed warmly. _

_"So did you like what I did with the room? I thought you'd be more comfortable in Slytherin colors." She smirked. _

_"Makes it less miserable than it already is. " Draco sighed._

_"Well than boys, I've got business to take care of. But, I did you both a favor and outlined the progression plan as well as the revenue, costs, and .. Well just read the documents and you'll understand soon enough. Make me proud boys!"_

_She patted them both on the back and scurried out of the room. "Well, we might as well begin." Draco sighed running his hand through his white blond hair. _

_After two hours of reading through several documents, Blaise got up and out of his seat. "Malfoy, I'm bored. Entertain me." He grumbled. _

_ "Zabini, I really want to finish this. I have no intention of taking this home with me so-"_

_Draco was disturbed by a light knock on the door. A tall girl in a knee length black skirt and a purple top with a plunging neckline walked in. She pushed her short dark hair away from her eyes and smiled at the boys. _

_"Hello, I'm Evelyn Chermette, Mr. Malfoi's secretary. "_

_Blaise met her eyes and smirked. Another minnow to fish for._

_Blaise walked towards her and grabbed her hand placing a warm kiss on the back of it. _

_"I'm Blaine... Blaine Anderson." _

_The girl turned red and snatched her hand from his, swatting his arm away from hers. _

_She gasped loudly, "How dare you hit on me, Mr. Anderson. You should be ashamed of yourself! For all you know, I could be a married woman! Watch where you place your grubby little paws before I break them next time." She hissed in between clenched teeth. _

_Draco sniggered. "Please, excuse my colleague. He's not the most mature of my mates." He flashed her a smile. _

_"Well, anyways, I just wanted to check in on you and hand you your morning coffee." She handed them two Starbucks Mocha Cappuccino's and walked towards the door. _

_"Welcome again, Malfoi and Anderson. If you need anything just ring me on the intercom." She nodded towards a white button on the wall before walking out and closing the door behind her._

_Blaise grimaced at the pale Slytherin beside him. "Why do you have to ruin all my fun!?" He mumbled earning a smack on the back of his head. _

* * *

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	4. The Remnants

_**So, WELCOME BACK YA FILTHY MUDBLOODS!**_

_**This is the continuation of chapter 3 so it's going to be short, but no worries! We have a another chapter coming later tonight.**_

_**We apologize for the delay, we had some problems with our schedules... Anyway, better late then never, eh? **_

_**Keep in mind that this chapter will mostly contain Draco's flashbacks, we hope it won't be confusing. We tried to keep it simple by mentioning the month and year of the flashback.**_

_**Thanks to roon0, HippogriffTalon and Leo who kindly reviwed the last chapter. Also a big BIG HUG to the people who favorited and followed:**_

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* * *

_**Flashback - June 1998**_

_It had been three weeks since Draco, his mother and Blaise Zabini had moved to the Muggle world. Draco's mind was a mess, he didn't know what to do, and more importantly: he didn't know how to run a business, nor did he know how to work with most parts of the machines around him. He felt out of place, trapped in an unknown territory._

_Narcissa rolled her eyes to her son's figure who reminded her very much of her husband, at least of when he was young. Draco had gotten up from the classic green couch and paced around the room. He seemed to be having an internal argument with himself._

"_I'm sick of this place mother!" Draco said, finally, after a 5 minutes of wandering._

_Narcissa sniffed in disapproval and looked away from the magazine she had in her hands "We already talked about this, Draco. We're already here and we will not go back until the war is over. End of discussion." She said turning to the next page. _

"_What discussion, this is not a discussion. I am simply not going back near those…" Draco made a disgust face._

"_Very well, then." stud up and crossed her arms above her stomach. "So tell me: what do you think would be a good solution, Draco? Maybe go back to the Malfoy Manor until the Dark Lord decides to show up and kill us, or maybe… Run away like cowards, go somewhere else and wait until the war is over?"_

"_Oh and aren't we running away? Isn't that what we're doing?" The young man retorted looked around._

_ looked at her son for a few seconds before retorting. "It is not! We're only protecting ourselves; camouflaging." _

"_In other words we're running away." _

"_You don't understand, you're too young…" Narcissa shook her head with a sight, and sat again._

_Draco frowned and let out a ironic laugh._

"_Now, I'm too young. That's an old one, mother. Do you think I'm still that immature boy who used to bully children at school? Or maybe the one who took the dark mark because he was too afraid of getting killed? I'm not that little boy anymore, I've grown up." Draco stated before walking towards the door. He would go back to his own apartment, away from his mother. He needed to calm down himself. _

"_Then act like one, a responsible one." Narcissa replied loudly so her son would hear her from the outside._

* * *

_**Present Day – July 1998**_

His mother's words kept replaying on his head in an echo while he walked down the street in an urged step. With an umbrella on his left hand, Draco pressed the doorbell of apartment number 17b.

It was his mother's apartment, the place where he had lived for the first two months of his stay in the Muggle London although, had quickly come to the conclusion that being with his mother in that tiny little apartment wasn't such a good idea.

Draco looked around to see that the rain had stopped; he could now close the black umbrella. How he hated those rainy days.

Suddenly he heard a whispering voice speaking from the other side of the door. "Who's it?" The female voice asked reluctantly.

Draco rolled his eyes before answering with a bored voice "It's me, Draco." He pulled down his hands to his pockets.

The door opened and Draco entered in the building, he had to climb four flights of stairs to reach to his mother's apartment. It was cold there, possibly due to the fact that it was old. Why did everything in ths city seemed too old to him? He had always lived around places like that, it was odd.

When he reached the door which had already been opened, Draco stepped inside, finding his mother waiting against the door with a small smile on her face.

He should have smiled back but, instead, he only kissed her cheek delicately and kept walking towards the living room. It was definitely a cold way to treat his mother, but that had been the way he had been raised. Old habits die hard, right?

"So, what did you wanted, so urgently, to tell me that couldn't wait until tomorrow?" asked as she sat beside her thoughtful son.

She hated that look he had on his face; he seemed worried and pensive which would only make him look older and tired.

"Draco." She spoke again, hoping he would then, answer to her.

"They found us." He whispered with a shaky voice, his eyes were wide and looking to an indeterminate spot in front of him.

narrowed her eyes, not knowing what exactly her son meant with his last sentence. But she soon realized what could have supposedly happened. She lifted her shaky pale hand to her mouth in act of surprise.

"My secretary was killed this afternoon in her house…My house actually..." Draco paused to look at his mother for the first time since he had arrived, she looked worried as well. "One of her neighbours allegedly told the police that she had heard someone screaming from the house next to hers, that was when she decided that it was better if she called someone to see what was happening. While she waited for the police to come, the woman left her house to see what had happened and when she reached to Evy's, my secretary's front door, she noticed a dark smoke above the house-"

"The snake.." his mother whispered as she shacked her head almost in despair.

"Yes" Draco confirmed, before giving a loud long gulp. He gave his mother a few minutes of silence so she could process the information, before continuing. "I'm going to leave now, and visit the house. I want to see it for myself." He got up from the couch.

"What? No no, Draco! You're not going any near that place!" warned as she followed her son who was preparing to leave the house.

"Mother, I can take care of myself. Don't worry." The young man assured confidently, before closing the door behind him.

* * *

Draco stepped over the yellow caution tape that surrounded the entrance of the deceased Evelyn Chermette's house. Stepping in, he allowed himself to take in the state of the sitting room. The once clear, marble floor was now lined with a thick layer of dust. The antique furniture, worth _millions_, was shattered and scattered all across the floor.

His anger was rapidly boiling within him like a potion gone wrong.

He made his way past the array of broken glass and up the stairway towards the master bedroom which he assumed to be the room his secretary had occupied.

Draco opened the door and crept in. The room was a mess; various clothing articles were scattered across the floor and the bedspread was messed up. Obviously, someone had recently occupied it. It must have been that roommate of Evy's. Rumor around the office was that Evelyn had an old friend of hers live with her these past couple of weeks.

He felt a pang of guilt rush through his system; the girl who'd been staying here had lost a friend and a home. The guilt quickly faded away. He convinced himself that by ordering her out of this house, he was protecting the unknown girl.

The blond headed man threw himself onto the fourposter master bed. "Arghhh.." He yelled out in frustration. He threw the pillow over his face, and sighed deeply.

The pillow smelt familiar. Very familiar, yet he couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was. He knew this wasn't his secretary's scent. She smelled of rosemary. He only knew this due to the fact that she was plastered to his side 24/7 never a mildly attractive male client came in, she'd flirtatiously flip her hair over her shoulders in such a manner that made her look like she had a terrible cramp in her neck.

This smell however, was a lot lighter- very faint. He felt like he'd smelled this heaven-like aroma before.

Draco retired to his bed later that night. He plopped himself onto the soft, luxurious black master's bed and slowly massaged his temples at an attempt to ease the migraine that as building up within him. He kicked his shoes off, loosened his tie, and ran a hand through his unruly white-blonde locks. He really did need a haircut; his hair brushed his ears and fell past his eyes, concealing them.

He laid down on his back and tried to sort out through his thoughts. The deatheaters knew of his location, so he'd need to owl the Ministry to let him set up wards. He needed to decide whether or not he should attend the funeral. And most importantly, he needed to pinpoint what that smell was.

He'd smelt it before. There was no question that he liked it too.

_Ding!_ An imaginary light bulb flashed on in his head. Although he couldn't recognize the scent itself, he knew where he'd smelled it before. If he wasn't mistaken, this scent had been one of the three that he smelled when he brewed his first Amortentia potion in sixth year. He had been unable to identify it then, and still couldn't now. But the smell still intrigued him.

That night he couldn't get any shut eye. His thoughts were flooded with that unknown smell. _Who could it have possible belonged to? Why did he care? _Perhaps he just needed something else to worry about. Something of a much less proportion. He needed something to get his minds off of things.

And with that thought in mind, he drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

_**What'd you think? Yes, we are aware of the fact that it's short, but hey, better than nothing! Plus, you get another chapter later today, so YEAH. **_

_**Don't forget to favorite, follow and review! We want to know what you think **_

_**A & B**_


	5. The Demon's Dungeon

_**Here we are again! 5th chapter :) **_

_**So, the flashbacks are over, for now. This chapter will go back to the part of when Hermione was at the club. We tried to avoid Hermione being out of character, although it was kind of impossible!**_

_**This is fanfiction and we're totally aware that nothing of this would possibly happen in the books, though we liked the idea and thought about sharing it with you! So we hope you don't get mad at us because of that :) **_

_**Enjoy.. **_

_**Disclaimer: We don't own Harry Potter**_

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_As she got closer, loud music started to fill her head. Narrowing her eyes to avoid the light, she looked up the building and read: _

"_**Demon's Dungeon: the sexiest club in town. STILL HIRING.".**_

_It wasn't the fact that this was the only building in the whole street being used that shocked Hermione.__It wasn't the fact that not a single car was parked that shocked her.__It wasn't the fact that it was more crowded than the stadium at the Quidditch World Cup that shocked her.__What shocked Hermione Granger the most was that __**she actually went in.**_

* * *

_**Present Day – July 1998**_

Hermione stepped into the crowded room; it reeked of sex and cigarettes. She took a moment to look around and observe the kind of people who were there.

The women were half naked, pressed against the overly excited men. They danced, drank, and made out with whoever happened to be near them.

She tried to swim her way through the sea of sweaty bodies, ignoring the stares she got from both the women and men.

She felt so out of place. All the women here were wearing some sort of fancy dresses or lingerie, and there she was, standing out, wearing gym shorts and a baggy t-shirt.

She lowered her gaze and pushed herself through, what she hoped would be, the last group of people. Thankfully it was. She leaned against the counter of what she assumed to be the bar. The young man looked at her and smiled before asking, "What can I get you miss?"

Odd, this club was crawling with manwhores and sluts, yet here was an ordinary man- he didn't seem like the rest.

"Nothing, I was just wondering, is the owner of this… erm… party and intercourse house was here." She flushed a deep scarlet trying her hardest not to make eye contact with the man laughing at her innocence and embarrassment.

He chuckled warmly, "He's all the way on the other side, through the double doors. First room on the right."

"Thank you..." she glanced at his name tag for a millisecond before bringing her gaze back to the young fellow. "...Tom."

She squeezed herself once more through the crowd of aroused young adults. Hermione could feel her rather short hair frizz up at the unwanted humidity and friction.

When she finally reached the double doors, she saw that they led to the bathrooms, what Tom had pointed out to be the office, and some other room across the hall from it.

She knocked on the first door to her right and anxiously waited for a reply. "Come in." she heard a deep voice drawl out.

She pushed the door open with a loud creak and shut it behind her. She looked around the room, inspecting it and shuddering at the thought of the number of women he's probably shagged in here. The room wasn't like the frantic and crazy club just outside; it was a lot cooler and quieter. The walls were thick and soundproof, preventing any sound from coming in or out.

_How are people supposed to hear me if I scream? _She thought to herself.

The room wasn't well decorated. The walls were an ugly vomit colour and the carpeting was thicker than her textbooks from Hogwarts.

There were a couple of shelves with pictures of different women wearing revealing clothes, or no clothes AT all. The windows were tainted with a tar like black making it impossible to see outside.

In the middle of the room, was a desk, filled with paperwork, a card with Burt written in blood red ink, spilled coffee, and opened PlayBoy Magazines scattered around. Behind the desk sat a bald yet bulky man. The man was completely hairless except for the ginger moustache plastered on his upper lip/

His sleeves were ripped and his button up shirt was opened [up] revealing the detailed tattoos on his chest. In vibrant blue and green ink, you could see the image of a naked mermaid, perched up on a rock. How repulsive.

The man whom Hermione assumed to be Burt, looked her up and down before huskily asking in a mock sympathetic tone, "What could an innocent, not to mention, pretty young lady be doing here, in my office, at this time of night?"

"I-I noticed you're wanted sign." She managed to choke out,

He raised an eyebrow in confusion before knitting the ginger brows together. "You must be joking, miss. What makes you think you've got what it takes to work here? You don't look like a _whore_ to me." He chuckled darkly.

Hermione refused to let his taunts get to her. She _needed_ to earn money, what if this was her only option. "What does it take?" she retorted mocking his earlier eyebrow quirk.

The tall and well-built man stood up from behind the desk and stalked towards her. "Well, first of all _missy._ You've got to have the body. If I may?" he grabbed the back of her baggy shirt without awaiting her reply and tightened it, examining the size of her breasts and flatness of her belly.

"Not bad missy. C Cup I'm guessing?" she smirked masking the obvious look of disgust she wanted to throw at him.

"You've also got to dress the part, which I'm sure you can't. But I can help with that. The only thing that keeps me from hiring you is what makes you different from the other girls. We've got plenty of whores and sluts to go around, what makes you any different?" he sneered at her.

She gulped loudly and took in a large breath of air. He kept observing every single move she made; she hated being looked at like that.

"Hmmm…" he pretended to think it over. "You're hired. Follow me." They walked out of the room, and into the one in front of them.

"What…" she murmured to herself.

"You can start tonight. Remember, Demon's Dungeon's gets 30 per cent of what you earn. Feel free to dress yourself however you please." He looked at his watch before smirking up at her. "It's midnight, at one I expect you to be on the pole. Got it?"

Her eyes widened as she processed the information. "What do you mean with 'you can start tonight'? I-it's not a decision to take like this! I must think about it before actually applying for the job!"

The man smirked. "Then you probably should hurry up; it won't be too long before other girls appear to take it." He gave her a wink before leaving the room.

She needed to get out of that place as fast as possible. Hermione urged her step; she wanted to get out of that place as soon as she could. She was suddenly feeling trapped, stuck in there; the young witch looked around to see if anyone was watching her before quickly apparating.

She was now in a lightened narrow street, right in the centre of London. Her old childhood days' memories had probably been the reason why that place was the first one to come up to her mind. It was the street where her parents had bought her first book. The first book she actually had read.

It was far enough from Evy's home and especially from her's.

Hermione looked around, amazed with the fact that not even a single store had closed, after all those years.

She heard laughs from the other side of the street, children were playing nearby. The sounds somehow depressed her; they reminded her of Harry and Ron.

The feeling that she had felt after leaving Hogwarts and getting her friends' letter was back again.

All she wanted was to be back in her early years at Hogwarts, with her friends, where she knew what to do; where she felt she was safe and loved. She missed being innocent and unaware of this filthy world around her. That scary bar had indeed left her emotionally scarred.

It was late, dinner time to be precise. She identified the smell of food being cooked from the French restaurant in front of her. She felt like the lights of the place would blind her, the candles and smiles. Everyone seemed too much happy for her.

She started walking towards a small hotel she remembered of seeing. Stepping by the door, she pushed it slowly.

It was warm inside, she would finally have the good night of sleep she needed.

* * *

A week passed and Hermione's hope kept decreasing, she couldn't find a job. She had asked in every single shop of the street and even area, if someone needed an employee. But who would want someone with no qualifications?

The money she had saved wouldn't last more than two nights. She still had one choice left… the bar. She couldn't go back there.

But she did.

* * *

She was scared. She was only one little step from making the biggest decision of her life. It was decision that would make her hate herself forever, but she had to do it. No matter how degrading it was.

The thought made her laugh. Just a few years ago, she knew someone who was in a similar situation. She just had criticized her and looked down on her. She had jumped to conclusions and hadn't understood the fact that she had no choice. At least, now, she understood her. Now, she really did.

The room where she was getting ready in was quite big; unlike Burt's office, the walls were painted in a warm dark-red colour. It had no windows or doors besides the one she had entered in. In the middle of the room, there was a large bed, the sheets were black and the pillows were red, like most of the decorations in the room. Right in front of the bed, was a big dressing table and a mirror lined with lights.

The dressing table had a variety of make ups, creams, and jewellery. Much more than Hermione could have ever afforded.

Hermione immediately got to work on her appearance. She had a little less than an hour to get ready and explore the club a bit before she was expected to be on the stage. She chose her dress from the closet that happened to be filled with them. They were all small, tight, and revealing. Nothing she'd have chosen for herself.

Twenty minutes later, she stared at her reflection in the mirror, moderately satisfied. Her usual pale face was now slightly flushed; her fleshy lips were drowned in a shiny red lip-gloss, her dark-brown eyes excelled with the aid of the thick, black eyeliner and long lashes. Her curly light-brown hair fell along her chest, covering her overly exposed neckline. She definitely didn't feel comfortable in the tiny black dress that hugged her body and seemed to show off every curve, but it was the least revealing. She honestly didn't know how she was expected to dance with her hurt and aching feet. Damn those excessively high heels.

While putting the dark mask she had been told to use, tears filled her eyes but she quickly blinked them away. If she was going to do the 'unthinkable', then she had tobe strong and ready. She stood up and slowly strode towards the door, her blood running fast in her veins.

_1, 2…3 _she breathed in.

She walked towards the double doors and opened the door abruptly.

The bar was full of people. It was lighted by red and orange lamps which made it seem as if it _oozed_ sexual tension. The air was thick and the smoke of some drug she didn't recognize filled her lungs.

Demon's Dungeon's looked like a 1920's bar, but obviously a lot less classy. The women, her colleagues wore the same type of clothes as she did, with the masks covering their faces. Burt justified it as being more appealable to the clients who apparently, as he so kindly put, 'loved to play those kinky kinds of games. Like hide and seek, if you may.'

It repulsed her. All of those women throwing themselves at men, using their body to earn money. She knew she was once again, being hypocritical, by judging them, when she was about to do the exact same thing.

Hermione didn't know how she found strength to keep walking with people's eyes on her. If only she knew what was going across those perverted minds of theirs. The plans they were making to approach her, the best strategies.

She leaned forward the wooden counter of the bar again, with her eyes on the countless bottles disposed in front of her. A drink would definitely help ease her nerves. She recognized Glenlivet Scotch, Four Roses and Jameson from when her father and uncles would drink at the once-a-month family dinners. But what she really was craving was a bottle of Firewhiskey. It's a shame they didn't have it.

"Hey hottie." Someone suddenly whispered near her ear, making her tremble and reluctantly turn her head...

Hermione looked the man up and down. He was about four inches taller than her; the first thing she could notice was his well-built figure. His eyes were tiny and blue, his eyebrows perfectly groomed and black like his short ruffled up hair. He had an arrogant smile playing on his lips, as if he knew he had absolute control over her- which he did.

"Are you new here?" he asked leaning his left side against the counter so they would be face to face.

"Yes, you could say that." She answered awkwardly; keeping her eyes on a couple who was snogging behind them like their lives depended on it. She sighed, that wasn't a really good way to talk with a client. "So, what's your name?" she asked trying to locking her eyes with his, trying to sound at least a little interested in him.

"Brad." he whispered, getting closer to her. His voice was deep and husky, but forceful, as if trying to convince her of something. "How about you?" he now put his hand on her tiny waist.

She looked down to where his hand was and gulped before looking up again with an uncomfortable smile on her face.

"I'm…erm.. Mia…"

"Hm…_ do you mind if I pay for your drink?_" he asked moving his hand to her back, making her jump.

Now, she was supposed to accept the offer? If she did, he would probably take it as a green light to get 'friendly'. She didn't want that.

She still smiled and shook her head "It's not really necessary."

"Why not? We're here to have fun, aren't we?" he smiled persuasively.

Hermione decided that she'd had enough of that conversation and turned away.

"Where do you think you're going? I'm not finished yet." She heard his angry voice but didn't stop, and kept walking away.

The witch knew she wouldn't be able to do it, she wouldn't. Just by looking at that man's face, the way he looked at her like she was a piece of meat. The fact he had even touched her… There had to be another way to survive without lowering herself to that point.

"Hey, new girl." A childish feminine voice called her, she looked around and found one of her colleagues staring back at her "What do you think you're doing? Move that skinny ass of yours and prepare yourself for the show. You're expected to be on stage in two minutes."

Hermione's eyes widen as the young woman spoke. She didn't have a clue of what to do. She didn't even know how to dance, how would she dance on a pole? And be sexy? Hermione Granger wasn't sexy. She was a witch, a bookworm, know-it-all with a bushy hair and ugly face. But mostly, she was not _that. _She was not a _whore._

Hermione followed the frail but feisty girl to the other side of the bar once more to where the large stage and pole was. The stage was showered with various lights and littered with panties in varied colors; unnerving Hermione more than ever.

"I hope you're ready." The girl mumbled adjusting Hermione's make up after she pulled her behind the curtains.

Hermione squirmed as she applied the last of the blush. "Actually, I have no clue. I've never done this before."

The girl smirked at Hermione, "Then this should be amusing." She handed Hermione a pair of black stiletto thigh-high boots.

Hermione looked down at the heels she was wearing. She groaned internally; she had just gotten used to these uncomfortable shoes, and now she had to change them? "What are those for? Aren't mine okay?" she frowned.

"You don't have to take them, but you should. They help you grip onto the pole. Think of it as a welcome gift from yours truly, Amber." Amber drawled out

Hermione smiled at the thin blonde in front of her. Maybe she could make friends in this scary world. She put on her boots and felt a slap on her bum.

Amber had smacked her bum. "Get on stage, bitch. The songs about to start."

"My name's Mia, actually." She pouted defensively, but Amber didn't pay it any regards.

The sound of a very feminine moan followed by upbeat music boomed over the speakers. "The song's called When I Fell In Love by UBQ. I hope you've heard of it before."

Amber gave her a curt nod and walked away, leaving Hermione to walk on the stage by herself.

The curtains were ripped open and she could feel the heat from the light beating down on her. She squinted at it, and looked towards the crowd. She started to walk towards the pole that stood in the middle of the stage. Hermione was shaking from the nervousness that took over her body. Even as a fully clothed child, she'd always had stage fright.

She took a step forward, and stumbled to her knees. _Oooh. Yikes. Ouch! _The crowd echoed. Hermione looked up at the room full of men. She slowly stood up, rewarded by the _Wooo's _, _Yeahs! _, and whistles from the men. She walked to the pole and gripped it with two hands.

Lucky for her, as a child, she took gymanstic classes. She had once stumbled upon her instructor dancing on a pole, and it was magnificent; nothing like the disgusting and sexual dancing the clubs feature.

Hermione used to stay late after class and watch her instructor, Anna her name was, dance- it was truly remarkable.

Maybe, if she added her own spin on the moves, it'd make her look like she knew what she was doing.

Hermione tried to recall the moves Anna used to do. She grabbed the pole with her right hand and let her weight fall backwards. She stood back up and lifted her outer leg, the left one, upwards and swung it around the pole, pivoting her inside foot at the same time. Hermione then hooked her left leg around the pole gripping it behind her knee.

Hermione arched her body backwards and brought her right leg up to meet her hands. She gripped the pole with her thighs and reluctantly let her sweaty hands release the medal rod, letting herself fall backwards. _Thank Merlin for these boots. _She thought to herself.

The men in the crowd hooted as she pulled herself back up right and slid down the pole in what she assumed was a seductive manner. After regaining her balance on the floor, she strut around the pole flipping her hair and rolling her hips.

For all she knew, she could be dancing like an orang-utan. The only thing that kept her from turning back and crying was the shouts of approval from the men.

Hermione was getting used to the attention from all them, and she couldn't lie to herself, she liked it a bit. Just a little bit.

She didn't appreciate being a whore and loved only for her body, but it's better than not being loved at all.

Right?

Hermione once again climbed up the pole, winded her right leg around it. It's a good thing she exercised and kept a healthy diet, otherwise, she'd probably fall and embarrass herself in front of her new 'co-workers'.

With one leg around the pole and the other dangling around her side, she rotated her body and pushed herself to spin around the pole.

She spun once, twice, and three times before easing herself back on to the ground. She sat on one knee, and looked up at all the lust filled eyes focusing on her.

_1…2…3… _She breathed trying to once again gain her composure and keep the little food she had in her belly down. Hermione looked around and let out an uneasy chuckled. The song had ended, finally, and the whole club was whistleing and yelling.

_I wasn't that good. _She thought to herself. She looked down at herself and saw that her black dress was hiked up to her belly so her legs and black laced panties were exposed.

"GIVE IT UP FOR MIA!" she heard Amber boom over the speakers. Hermione scrambled off stage, fixing her dress, and bumped into Burt.

"Not bad, missy." Burt praised. "You may be an amateur, but at least the crowd liked you. Now go, and make me some money." He shooed her off.

Hermione made a bee line for changing rooms; this dressed made her uncomfortable.

"Umph..!" She ran into someone. "Uhm. Sorry about that Brad." She mumbled avoiding eye contact.

"Oh it's alright, Mia. By the way, you were so sexy on that pole." He winked at her. "Maybe, if you don't have anything planned tonight, you can keep me some company." He leaned in and whispered into her ear, "I'll pay."

He turned around and started walking away before stopping in his tracks, "If you're interested, I'll be in the red Mustang about back."

And with that, he left Hermione fumbling through her thoughts, trying to make a decision.

Should she go? If she did, she knew what it would lead too. But then again, he said he'd pay. Isn't that her job after all?

So what if it was uncharacteristic for her to go him with a random guy. But who cares, it's not like anyone in this city knew her after all.

* * *

_**What do you think guys? Do you think she'll go with him? Should she? I don't think this fic is going to be heavily smutty. We're not here to satisfy **_**those **_**kind of needs. Haha.**_

_**Anyways, you know what to do! :D**_

_**A & B**_


	6. Giving In

_**Hi everyone! Here's the 6th chapter, finally!**_

_**We're sorry for the late update but as we already said we're having some schedules' problems with the school and the final exams…**_

_**So, we want thank to those who reviewed roon0, 14kasperc and K. 17995!**_

_**Also to all our new followers: Nicolette Darke, stlchulita, amber1993, Filmstar xXx, gothamsreckoning, AmberCitylights!**_

_**Here's a little explanation of this next chapter: we'll be continuing from the last chapter, when Hermione left with the Brad guy. We thought that we shouldn't wait much time explaining that much about how Hermione's life continued because well… we're so excited about Draco that we can't even wait to start writing Draco/Hermione scenes! Anyways, we hope the explanations are at least enough for you to understand the rest of the story. We're kinda just giving some tips of how Hermione's life started to degraded and in the next chapters more things will be revealed =D**_

* * *

_**Disclaimer: We don't own Harry Potter**_

* * *

_**Previously on FWAF…**_

_Hermione made a bee line for changing rooms; this dressed made her uncomfortable._

_"Umph..!" She ran into someone. "Uhm. Sorry about that Brad." She mumbled avoiding eye contact._

_"Oh it's alright, Mia. By the way, you were so sexy on that pole." He winked at her. "Maybe, if you don't have anything planned tonight, you can keep me some company." He leaned in and whispered into her ear, "I'll pay."_

_He turned around and started walking away before stopping in his tracks, "If you're interested, I'll be in the red Mustang about back."_

_And with that, he left Hermione fumbling through her thoughts, trying to make a decision._

_Should she go? If she did, she knew what it would lead too. But then again, he said he'd pay. Isn't that her job after all?_

_So what if it was uncharacteristic for her to go him with a random guy. But who cares, it's not like anyone in this city knew her after all._

* * *

_**July 1998 ~(Continuation)~ **_

Hermione looked outside of Brad's car, the trees and street lights blurred and disappeared as Brad increased speed. It was already past 2 a.m. Hermione yawned silently.

It was getting cold; she picked her leather black jacket from her barely clothed lap and put it on . She heard Brad's husky laugh from her side and she glanced up at him inquisitively.

"What?" she asked looking straight into his malicious eyes. That fearless attitude she had at the moment was thanks to the ten bottles of alcohol the man had bought for her.

Brad shook his head in a humored disbelief, "I find amusing that you're cold." he looked her up and down, his tongue tracing his thin asymmetric lips, before eyeing the road again. "I'm quite hot right now."

Hermione widened her eyes as she felt his hands travelling up her left thigh. She held her breathe waiting for his next step, but he, as well, was waiting for her reaction.

She felt the urge to push his sweaty paws away from her leg and, tell him to leave her alone. Hermione was now, regretting the unconscious decision she had taken to leave the bar with him.

Her chest was beginning to fill with the air that she was too afraid to let out. But a disgusted groan did escape her closed mouth.

"Hm…I knew you would like this. You're a nasty whore aren't you? Just wait until I get my hands over you, and screw you like no one's ever done before ." He murmured in a deep husky voice, his hand slipping now further under her short tube dress.

Hermione jumped in her seat and finally snatched his hand away from her. The rage started showing all over her face, her sweet brown eyes now shooting daggers at him.

"You already have your hands all over me, you jerk!" she hissed while trying to get away from him as quick as possible.

"Oh no, my little bitch." he laughed "You don't understand, but since I'm a great guy and think you deserve this, I'll explain it clearly: you don't get to decide what I should or shouldn't do. I'm paying you to do whatever I say; I'm paying you to please me." He turned his head to eye her in menacing manner

"And you will."

* * *

Saying that she was nervous was saying the least. Her heart seemed like would jumpy out of her chest. Hermione was leaning against a cracked white wall. In front of her was a bed- an empty bed- with no sheets, no pillows… Only the mattress. There was a lamp on the bedside table that lit the room dimly.

She'd always tell herself, that she wasn't a whore, that she wasn't a slut. But now that she was recalling her previous actions, she knew it to be otherwise. She was a whore.

Brad's house was empty and old; it looked like it would collapse on them anytime now. She suspected it wasn't actually his house- at least not his real one.

His appearance told her that he was someone with enough monetary possessions to buy a better house than that one. The brand clothes he wore and his excessive perfume, his black hair gelled up perfectly. Why did her first client have to look like a young Hugh Hefner? She was so thankful that he was still in the bathroom, possibly preparing for the ultimate attack. It was her opportunity to prepare herself mentally for what was about to happen.

Ten minutes had passed, and still no sound came from the bathroom. Hermione was startled when the room's lights flashed off. Her heart stopped. She looked around to try to see anything, anything at all. But it was just too dark and too late.

The room was silent. Somewhat. The sound of heavy irregular breathing filled the room. The uneasy stillness around her frightened her.

Hermione usually had her wand with her, but she didn't have it anymore. She had no way of protecting herself. Pure fear rushed through her veins. Her eyes heated and moistened with tears.

"B-Brad?" she called his name in a fragile voice.

Her pupils dilated and she started to become accustomed to the dark engulfing her. Her vision cleared and she could see the door on the other side of the room; she made her way towards it.

'You could leave if you wanted to.' She heard her subconscious whisper. 'No one would ever know.'

Cowardice wasn't a typical facet of Hermione.

The closed bathroom's door was just a meter away from the door Hermione could exit from. She glanced at it anxiously. There was no sign of Brad. What if he had passed out? Or worst: what if he had died?

Yes, that was a ridiculous assumption, but you never know!

She didn't want to find out. She would go away from there and forget about what had happened.

The witch walked out of the room, without looking behind, leaving her heels behind so Brad would know she'd left.

She started running again, trying to avoid looking at the creepy houses that loomed over her. The throbbing headache subsided and built up again. The houses seemed to be shaking and the world was spinning and... She stopped in the middle of the road, with her hands on her knees; trying to catch her breath. She laughed out loud. For no particular reason, but still… It felt good.

That sense of relief didn't last very much. The young witch placed her hands on her neck and held on to it; she could feel the vomit making it's way up her throat.

* * *

_Hermione had become rather accustomed to life as a whore. Thanks to the influence of Amber, she was doing pretty bad- which was good in a sense._

She had been doing different men every night, and sometimes, she'd tag along when Amber snags a rich and desperate young man. Yes, Hermione Granger was having sex with men she didn't even know, and received high amounts of money in return.

_It hadn't been something that happened over night! During the first few months working there, she had steadily refused to give herself up in such conditions, especially after the Brad situation. _

_There hadn't been any news of him, never. The feelings of guilt and embarrassment kept haunting her whenever a man approached her. Hermione could see some of Brad in each one of them. They all looked very nice and interested, but she wasn't able to take the next step. _

_Two long and hard months had passed before she actually gave in. There could be a lot of explanations for her sudden change of mind: the alcoholhad made its way into her system; maybe it had been Amber's persuasive and controlling manipulation over her that did it…_

_The obvious fact was that the tables definitely had turned when her boss, Burt, called her to his office and gave her the ultimatum she had tried to avoid over the months she had been working there. Hermione would have to give the clients the full service, please them and do whatever they told her. She would have to do her work; otherwise he would have to find for someone else who could to the job for her._

_So she gave in._

_During those months,__her attire definitely started to change. She no longer sported the goody goody innocent look. She no longer had long flowy hair. She no longer covered herself._

Hermione Granger wore black tight mini-skirts; short shorts; tube tops that flaunted her breasts and belly button. She cut her hair very short and wore thick black eye liner.

Her sense of reason changed as well. She put all her trust in Amber, which really damned her morals.

_On the nights that she didn't have "work" she stayed at a nearby hostel. She got really close to Amber. Despite her potty mouth, she really was a good friend._

Amber lived in a small flat a few kilometers away from the bar. Third floor, room 37B. The flat had two rooms, one kitchen, one bathroom, one sitting room, and a large balcony. Amber was kind enough to let Hermione stay with her once in a while. They lived together for about three months before Amber kicked her out.

She didn't kick her out because she wanted to be cruel. It was because her step sister was moving in and she couldn't have them both living together.

So once again, Hermione had lost her home and was back at the hostel.

By now, she'd gathered money, a lot actually. Who knew whores got paid so much? But she never used that money to buy clothes or rent a flat. She used it for other things she needed, other things she was starting to be depended on.

If Hermione Granger came across a fellow Hogwarts Student, or even one of her best friends, they wouldn't recognize her. She's no longer that innocent, petite girl, with the warm eyes. She became the 'whore everyone wants', barely dressed, with fiery eyes fogged with lust.

She wasn't Hermione Granger anymore. She was now Mia. The gossip of the Demon's Dungeon club.

* * *

It was now, November 1998. Since it was her fourth month anniversary there at the club, Burt decided that his greatest star should have a special performance as a gift.

The lights were all dimmed. Scarlet candles looming from the bar's ceiling were lighting the room.

Hermione sashayed seductively towards the pole with one hand on her waist. Her chocolate brown hair cascading down her shoulders. She shook her head slowly and smirked to the whispering crowd.  
Her free hand rose to grip to the bright, cold metal. Her other hand followed swiftly.  
The song "Love is the Drug" boomed through the speakers as Amber announced that the show was about to start. The stage lights flashed on.

No one spoke, no one dared to mutter a single word.

"Mia" started balancing her body from left to right, still with her both hands on the pole, her legs closed tightly together. She turned her masked face to the crowd and pursed her lips. She pressed her body closer to the pole and grinded herself against it. She swiftly turned over so her bare back touched the cold metal.

_Ain't_ _no_ _big_ _thing_  
_To_ _wait_ _for_ _the_ _bell_ to _ring_  
_Ain't_ _no_ _big_ _thing_  
_The toll of the_ _bell_

With her hands clasped around the pole above her head, Mia bent down lifting her bubble but up in the air without breaking eye contact with the crowd. She executed the usual hip movement, left to right… left to right…  
_  
Aggravated - spare for days  
I troll downtown the red light place  
Jump up bubble up - what's in store  
Love is the drug and I need to score  
_  
Mia got up her feet again and with only one hand on the pole, and both of her legs at the each side of it, she twisted her hips and arched backwards. Her hair falling down behind her. She focused on gripping the pole with her thighs and climbing upwards. The crowd hooted and whistled.  
_  
Showing out, showing out, hit and run  
Boy meets girl as beat goes on  
Stitched up tight, can't break free  
Love is the drug, got a hook on me_

At the end, it was just another show, just another day. But the question still remained: _  
_**Who knew Hermione Granger would ever put such passion into being a whore?**

* * *

As for Draco, it had already been as well six months since he first started living in the muggle world. Although he'd never admit this to anyone, it wasn't so bad. His business rates were skyrocketing and Blaise wasn't such a bad partner. After the death of Evelyn Chermette, Draco was reluctant to hire a new assistant, so he didn't. He'd just force Blaise to get him his coffee.

Blaise was, as usual, a flirt. Every female he comes across to falls mercilessly to his knees; in a metaphorical sense, mind you!

He's had a couple dates, a couple flings (which brought on a great deal of annoyance to Draco), but he never stuck to one girl for more than three weeks. He was a player.

Draco however refused to fall into the grasp of any blonde bimbos or sexy brunette smarty pants. He knew better than to get intimate with someone under his circumstances. He didn't want to grow close to someone only to have them ripped out of his hold. It was far too risky.

Draco and Blaise drove to the small house they recently started to share after a long Thursday's work. "You're not busy tomorrow night are you?" Blaise asked nonchalantly whilst parking their newest model of the Malfoi Lightning on their drive way.

"Blaise Zabini, are you asking me out on a _date_ ?" Draco chuckled in amusement. "No offense or anything, but I don't swing that way!"

Blaise grimaced and glared at him from the corner of his eye. "You prick.. That's not what I meant!" He muttered clenching his teeth.

"There's this really cool bar that new intern Jason, the one who replaced Lewis, told me about. Him and his mates are going and he invited us. Care to join?" Blaise smirked.

"I'm going for the whiskey, not the ladies. Got it?" Draco felt like he needed to prove a point. Blaise had been trying to set Draco up with someone for months now, but he hadn't given in.

"Whatever you say, mate. Whatever you say.." Blaise murmured under his breath.

Draco rolled his eyes and walked in through their front door.  
"I'm tired. I'm going to go hit the sack. Night. " he moaned before plopping himself to sleep on the couch. He was too tired to go to his room, so he retired to the closest piece of furniture available.

He didn't dream that night, but when he woke up, the memory of that ever so familiar cinnamon scents lingered in his mind.

* * *

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